Eighty three year strong
Criminal responsibility for political acts is the absent ingredient in African politics. That Robert Mugabe should be held responsible for torture, or accused thereof, may change the way he sees his shortening future. Mugabe is aware of how long he may cling to power. The opposition does not.
At eighty three years and over, it is illogical that Mugabe be held responsible for simultaneous political repression in Harare, Chipinge, Matoto and Binga. Mugabe may be administratively responsible, but 83yrs olds don't wake up at 5am to issue arrest warrants.
Someone is doing Mugabe's job better than he imagined. And that "someone" knows that Mugabe's time is out in every sense. Like elsewhere in Africa, Morgan Tsvangirai is putting up a fight against an individual and forgetting that he should be waging war against a regime. Subverting the nomenklatura is most efficient. Listen to the Chief of Police in Zimbabwe or the Vice-President. They don't fear that Mugabe is in political overtime. As if when Mugabe goes, what they do is forgotten. So far as politics resemble chess, I'll say this to Tsvangirai and other opposition leaders in Africa: "a threat is more effective than its execution". Threaten those who work with Mugabe and the deal is done.
